Why It’s Better to Use Alternative Natural Remedies for ADHD

Many people feel that it’s not always a good idea to use controlled substances such as Ritalin or Adderall for ADHD, especially since patients are mostly children. Because of this, the popularity of natural remedies for ADHD is rising.

When it comes to ADHD, the traditional treatment is the use of stimulant medications such as Ritalin or Adderall. But many parents today are opting for alternative natural remedies for ADHDinstead.

ADHD Controversies

ADHD, or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is one of the most controversial disorders that people know about today. Much of the controversy is because it affects mostly children, and it concerns children’s behavior.

It’s not that doctors and scientists are divided about the reality of ADHD. This is an actual and valid neurobehavioral disorder. It is characterized by a wide variety of different symptoms which are related to a significant lack of focus, to impulsiveness, or to a considerable level of hyperactivity. In other words, ADHD patients can’t focus well, tend to daydream, or don’t seem to listen when you talk to them. They feel upset or do things without planning. They also exhibit a lot of squirming and running around.

Denying that ADHD exists is much like denying the validity of concepts such as evolution, the benefits of immunization for babies, and climate change. People have the right to disbelieve, but they just happen to be wrong. ADHD certainly exists, and the scientists have the proof.

But the real controversies, at least in the US, are in the diagnosis methods and in the use of stimulant medication for treating children.

Diagnosing ADHD

One of the main problems with ADHD is that there is no standard method for assessing someone with ADHD. There are several possible symptoms that can be exhibited, and ADHD may be present when the patient exhibits a certain number of symptoms.

But judging whether a child actually exhibits the symptoms depend a lot on the specialist doing the diagnosis. Two specialists may be presented with the same exact symptom, and one will say that it’s a symptom of ADHD while the other may disagree.

It’s also compounded by the fact that teachers and parents help with the diagnosis by describing the children, and some of these symptoms may just be types of behavior that the teachers and parents want to stop. In other words, the reliability of these people helping with the diagnosis is questionable.

Many suspect that while ADHD exists, too many people are blaming ADHD when it’s just a matter of normal rambunctious or inattentive children’s behavior. This may explain certain discrepancies in ADHD diagnoses.

The American Psychiatric Association states that 5% of children have ADHD. But as of 2011, about 11% of children from the ages of 4 to 17 years old have been diagnosed with ADHD in the US. That’s 4 million children, and that makes ADHD the most common neurobehavioral disorder among children.

Most experts consider ADHD a genetic disorder. But that doesn’t explain how North California has double the rate of ADHD compared to California. And the US has double the rates of ADHD compared to Great Britain.

In short, an ADHD may be diagnosed when no true disorder exists for a particular child. And that’s why parents may opt for ADHD natural remedies instead. The natural remedy for ADHD may help, but if the condition has been misdiagnosed then at least the natural ADHD remedies did not cause any harm at all.

Treating ADHD with Stimulant Medication

While some parent may accept the fact that their children do have ADHD, the treatment methods may not be quite as comfortable for them.ADHD is usually treated with either Ritalin or Adderall. But these medications are classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency as schedule II controlled substances. That’s the same classification as opium, amphetamines and cocaine.

That this is a drug given to children who are still developing is concerning to parents, at the very least. Yet these drugs are given to children in increasingly large volumes. Numerous side effects have been noted, including loss of appetite and sleeplessness.

What’s more, they don’t offer any long term benefits. After a while, they stop working because the bodies of the patients have developed a tolerance for the drug. When their bodies have adapted to the drugs, the effects are muted. At the same time, taking the patients off the drugs can result in worse behavior. This is not actually evidence that the medications work. This is more similar to when adults stop smoking or stop drinking coffee.

The Advantages of Natural Supplements for ADHD

There are many advantages to the use of ADHD natural supplements. Let’s take Synaptol, for instance. This is one of the more popular natural supplements for ADHD.

It contains only natural products so that it does not cause any side effects. There’s no risk of dependency because it contains no stimulants at all.

All it has are natural ingredients designed to relieve symptoms of ADHD, and that includes concentration problems, fidgeting, and impulsive behavior. It’s safe for children, and it can be used alongside other medications.

Conclusion

We can summarize the problems with ADHD as follows:

With no standard assessment method, it is not impossible for a doctor or a teacher to ascribe ADHD for behavior that’s actually normal for many children. And if there’s a misdiagnosis, the use of controlled substances that may cause dependency and side effects simply do not make sense.

In fact, even if the ADHD diagnosis is right, the use of these medications may yet be borderline irresponsible. Children are still growing, and the use of stimulants which can cause addiction may not be especially helpful. And according to some scientists, the use of drugs alone is insufficient. The real treatment required may be more complicated.

While controversies exist regarding proper diagnosis and treatment, it’s only right that natural remedies should be used in the meantime, especially at first. It’s a safe type of treatment, as it is not addictive and it does not cause side effects. It also does not affect how other medicines work,

And herbal remedies work just as well as conventional treatment methods. It treats the symptoms and not the condition itself. The condition may need more effective treatments than just Ritalin or Adderall. So in other words, you get the same results but without the risks.

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